Magic Spheres
by Archermusician
Summary: What happens when a teenage girl is given two magical spheres for the holidays? Who does she meet? What trouble will she cause? NOT SLASH, M in later chapters, T first few, JeanxOCxEnvy; OC-OC, OC-existing
1. Chapter 1

So, I had this idea when I was driving home from school for winter break.

Also; I know that not everyone who read my stories practice Christianity, so I hope not to offend those of you who don't, as I am going to be mentioning it.

As the tan curtains were pulled back, it revealed a landscape covered in snow. The ground was completely white, the trees and bushes were given a fairytale appearance because of the snow. The person holding back the curtains let out a high scream. "Yipee!"

"What is it Paige?" A woman's voice called.

"SNOW! We have a white Christmas!" The girl now identified as Paige responded. She rushed out of the room she was in, red-brown hair flying behind her as she raced down the steps.

"Yes dear, now calm down." Her father smiled from behind his coffee mug.

"Let's hurry and open presents!" She exclaimed as she sat in her chair with a glass of hot chocolate.

"Ok dear, let your mother get in here first." She nodded and picked up the cat that was walking on the floor.

"Hey pretty kitty. How is my Mafdet?" She cooed as she pet the cat in her arms.

"I don't know why you named her so oddly." Her mother stated as she sat next to her husband.

"I want it to mean something. Now presents!" The excited 19-year old said.

"Very well, open the candy cane wrapped one last." Her father said as she picked up the small box.

"Why?"

"The person who it is from said too, that is why. Why don't you start with the marbled one?" He suggested. She nodded and carefully opened it to reveal two large research books.

"These are gorgeous!" She gushed as she flipped through the giant book, each easily weighing 20 pounds.

"Thought you would like them. Now give one to your mother." And the presents were passed in that fashion, one at a time to each.

"Now! I get to open this one!" Paige said holding up the box.

"Story first. It was your great-great grandfather's wish that when you turn 19, at Christmas, to give these to you. They are very precious, and very expensive." He gestured to her to open the box, which she unwrapped with awe. Inside was what looked like at jewelry box. She opened it to reveal two perfect spheres, one black, one white, that looked like pearls.

"According to your great-great grandfather, if you make a wish, one heartfelt wish, then the black one will grant it. Whenever you want it to end you break the white one and everything will be as it once was. You will have the memories but no one else will. The rules are it cannot be used to get more of them, to revive the dead, or for love."

"So one wish, whatever I want besides resurrection, love and more wishes? Is this for real?"

"Well according to your grandfather, people have searched for these for centuries, there are stories about what some people who find them do. Like Columbus? He wished for fame and that obviously worked. Very few break the white one. It gets passed down and saved, or else very well hidden."

"Thank you." She folded the box up and put it down carefully. She took her new books, 7 in all, up to her room. It took her several trips due to the weight of the books. She also received a new sweater that and the box of two spheres. She put them by her bed and went back downstairs to help with breakfast. Tradition was that after presents they made breakfast burritos. She went down and started on the potatoes. She washed them and started cutting them into squares and put them in the skillet with seasonings. Her mother did the sausage while her father made eggs and got the peppers and onions ready. Within half an hour the food was ready and they all made their own while watching a Christmas movie.

"What time are we doing the family Christmas this afternoon?" Paige asked her parents.

"We are doing your fathers tomorrow afternoon and mine is going to be tonight. You want to make your pie?" Her mother answered.

"Yeah, you have everything?"

"Of course. We will work on cleaning while you get your books put away. Then you can come down and make it."

"Ok!" She ran back upstairs to her room and looked over the new books, research material for some, but for her they were a part of her and her major. Nature studies. She added them to the desk of her research; the new books were about invertebrates, Limnology, Oceanography, Forests, Mountains and Valleys, Ichthyology, and then a Plants book. With the rest of her collection, she had books on about every natural science there was, totally well over 250,000 pages and several hundred pounds. She then hung up her new sweater which she would wear this evening and looked at the spheres again before returning downstairs. She kept thinking about if they would work. Yeah she wanted to do well in school, but she would prefer to work hard to do it. A job was the same way.

She decided to not think about it too much as she made the chocolate hazelnut pie that took a lot of concentration. She made the pie crust and put it in a cake pan as it would make more than a pie pan would. 45 minutes later the dessert was in the over for an hour.

"Food is in!" She called to the house. She was acknowledged by her parents in the living room. She went up and got on her computer to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. When one of her friends signed on they started talking about their favorite anime, Fullmetal Alchemist. Her friend, Esther Wendell, completely fancied Ed, the main character while Paige loved Jean Havoc, the underdog in relationships who she thought was better than Roy, the womanizer, as well as Envy, the selfish and completely misunderstood Homunculus. The fight continued for around an hour before Paige realized that she needed to start getting ready.

She ended the conversation with, _Jean and Envy are so much better, I will prove it to you somehow. _And signed off, locking her door before heading to the bathroom and showering. After her shower, she pulled on her undergarments before pulling on a white tank top then the black sweater with a embroidered leaf pattern down the left arm. She pulled on a pair of nice jeans and boots before fixing her hair into a braid down her back, its end reaching her lower back. She went downstairs to see her parents ready and waiting.

"Ready Paige?" She nodded and left the house with her parents to go to the family car, nothing fancy just a Saturn that was for her mom. Her dad had a F-150 and she had an Impala. They drove the 20 minutes to her mom's parents house and greeted the rest of their relatives. They ate a ham dinner with the various side dishes everyone made before opening presents here. It was several hours before people started to leave, with Paige and her family getting home at 11. She changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth and hair before pulling her laptop into bed with her. She went through her mail and talked to a few people before going to bed, falling asleep dreaming about Fullmetal Alchemist.

She awoke the next morning to her cat on her bed. "Hey kitty. You want food, don't cha?" The cat purred its answer and she got out of bed, heading down to wear her cat's food was. She opened a can and put it on the plate as well as a handful of dry food.

"There you go, eat up." She yawned at the cat. She was happy she took today off work at the coffee shop she worked at, it would defiantly be busy. She looked at the clock and decided to make breakfast for her parents. She pulled out eggs, bread and milk to make French toast. After cooking a few pieces she went up and told her parents to wake up. They were downstairs a few minutes later and got their coffee before getting food.

"What time are we leaving?" Paige asked her parents, knowing the drive took a while.

"Around 1 or so. We only have 2 and a half hours, so let's hurry up." Her father said excited, having not seen some of his family in a while. They all went upstairs, Paige to her room to shower and change into another pair of dress slacks and a long sleeved silver blouse. She lightly curled her hair before putting a movie on. She decided on the Fullmetal Alchemist Movie, Conqueror of Shambala. She was watching it, almost quoting it as it went on. She barely noticed when Mafdet jumped on her bed, wanting to be petted. The movie ended and within seconds her door opened.

"Ready?" The teenager nodded and jumped off her bed, pulled on boots and grabbed a coat before following her father out the room down to the kitchen where the food and presents were gathered and taken to the car. During the drive, Paige read one of the books in one of her favorite series; Vampire Earth, while still partaking in the conversation with her parents.

"Paige, we're here." Her mother said as they parked in a long driveway. They climbed out and walked up the snowy slope to a mini-mansion. Upon opening the door, they walked down the beautiful hallway towards the living room where the rest of her dad's family was gathered. After presents and food, the men went to the basement while the women went to the patio. Paige decided to be with her cousins that were a few years older than herself and talked about school. Until it came to the unfortunate topic.

"Paige, when are you going to find a boyfriend?" Her eldest near-aged cousin asked. At 23, she was in graduate school and was heading on to 2 and a half years with her boyfriend.

"Joelle, I don't want a boyfriend right now. My classes are hard and I wouldn't be able to spend time with him."

"If a guy asked, would you say yes though?" Her 20 year old cousin asked, thinking that since she had a promise ring that she was all that.

"Hanna, if I was interested in the guy I would."

"Girls, leave her alone." Her favorite cousin and closest to her own age supplied.

"Dave is right, she is doing amazing in school and if she wants a guy she will get one."

"Thank you Dave and Charlie." She smiled gratefully at her male cousins, less than a year older than her. "And you guys need to stop telling me to get a boyfriend. I have had bad guys in the past, if something is meant to be it will happen." They enjoyed the rest of their afternoon with meaningless conversations of actors, singers and family.

"Dave, Joelle, time to leave." Their mother said from the staircase. They both waved to show they heard before running around giving hugs goodbye. Hanna was called to leave not much later. Charlie took them up to his room to tell her something.

"Paige, I can trust you, right?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"And you won't say anything to anyone?"

"Char, I promise I won't. You are starting to scare me now though."

He took a deep breath and for the only time in her life she was uncomfortable being around her brown haired, blue eyed, lady's man cousin that was 5'10. He said in a voice so soft she barely heard it, "I'm gay."

"What?" She asked not sure if she heard him correctly.

"I'm…gay." He said with no courage left in his voice. She was quiet for a minute before hugging him.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of."

"You're not upset?" He asked shocked.

"Not at all. Some of my closest friends are, you are family. I still love you."

"Love you too cuz." They separated and she gathered her parents as they headed home.

After her shower, she went to lay on her bed, being too tired to do much else. She opened the box of the two spheres she got the previous day. She just looked at them for a while before eventually falling asleep.

If one could look into her dreams, they would see that she was dreaming of FMA, a battle ensuing that she was the "prize" of, between the military including her Havoc, as well as the rest of his team and the Homunculi, the green haired Envy leading them. It was in a semi-conscious state that she said her words, "I wish I was in the Fullmetal Alchemist world." And no one in the house was aware that the black ball had started to glow a bright white with flashes in every shade of blue and black.

Please Review;

I'll love you more than Alphonse loves kitties!

Also-this is early Christmas/Kwanza present, late Hanukah one.


	2. Chapter 2

For starters; I would like to mention I am appreciative of the great response I got on the first chapter, and officially thank the three who reviewed: neoko-chan, Megan May, and KingofHeartless'09.

Also, anyone who wants to guess on what may happen in future chapters is welcome too, and I appreciate what you think, whoever gets closest will get an honorable mention.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeep!_ Was what awoke the slumbering teenager from her bed. She stretched and went downstairs to the kitchen to eat before getting ready for the day.

"Morning Mom, Dad. How are you?"

"Morning dear, sleep well?" Her mother asked while setting down a plate of eggs and toast.

"Yeah, just going to eat before getting ready for work." She went to take a bite of her breakfast to silence, her parents exchanging a glance.

"Paige, what are you talking about? You don't work, you go to school." This confused Paige while she looked around the kitchen, noticing that instead of the stainless steel appliances there were cast iron. She then looked at the paper her dad was reading. _East City Press, December 27__th__, 1908. _

"I am confused, I guess my dream seemed so vivid. But care to explain what you mean?"

"Are you ok hun? Need to stay home from school?" Her father asked as he put down the newspaper.

"No, I'm fine. Just what am I supposed to do today will help."

Her parents shared another look over the table and then her mother spoke, "You are going to go to school today, your friends should be here in about an hour to pick you up on the way. After school you come back here to do your homework. Your friends will help you with your schedule if you need it."

"Thanks. I think I will finish eating then go get ready." And she stayed quiet while she ate then went up to her room and immediately looked out the window to see the landscape of East City in Amestris, from Fullmetal Alchemist. She then looked at her nightstand and noticed that the box she got from my great-great grandfather was open, and that the black sphere was gone. Quickly moving to sit on her bed, the young woman collapsed.

"Oh my god. During my dream last night I must've said it out loud!" she groaned and stayed silent in thought before getting up and picked up the white sphere thinking about smashing it. Then she stopped, and looked at it then out the window again. She put it back in the box and wedged it between two of her books on the shelves above her desk. She decided to get dressed and opened her closet pulling out a long sleeved white shirt, a knee length black skirt, and a navy, or rather military, blue vest. She went to brush her teeth and put on her uniform with black flats that she never had before. Doing her hair and make up, she grabbed her bag which was a little weighty and went down to the living room, noticing this time around the differences in the house. Cotton instead of leather sofas, radio instead of TV, less ornate lamps, just little things that a person half asleep wouldn't normally notice.

"Ah Paige! So beautiful in your uniform! You trying to impress someone?" Her father asked, adding the last part in a threatening tone.

"Maybe, I don't know if anyone likes me. You will meet them if I do though Dad."

"That's my girl! Your friends will be here soon. Don't get into trouble." He said while heading back up the stairs while her mother cleaned the kitchen. Waiting in the living room she thought about what was going to happen around this time. Ed and Al were still living with their sick mother, the Ishvalan Massacre ended, which meant that Mustang and all his subordinates were younger. She was disrupted from her thoughts with knocking at the door, which she stood to answer. At the door were three girls, one she recognized the other two she didn't.

"Hey Paige! Ready?" A blonde asked. She was the one that Paige had seen pictures of, Catherine Elle Armstrong, younger sister to Alex Louis, the Strong Arm Alchemist, while the two dark haired girls she knew she would find out.

"Yeah Catherine," and she yelled good bye to her parents before closing the door. She then turned back to the girls and said, "Girls I'm sorry but I have a serious case of selective amnesia and I can't remember your names. Help?" She said in an apologetic tone.

The girl that was about 5'8, unusually tall, with long straight dark black hair, pale skin, and onyx eyes. "I am Aurora Valvos."

The other girl was short, just over 5 foot with shoulder length, wavy dark brown nearing black hair. Her eyes were really soft, the kindness showing through here sky blue eyes. "I am Alaine Fuery." They were walking down the road at this point.

"Ah, that's right. I don't know what I did, but the dream I had last night really messed with my head." Paige giggled lightly, which they accepted. It was then that Catherine spoke,

"Hey. There is a new café, just opened the other day. Would you want to go there for lunch?" All of them agreed and by the time they got to the school, which was white marble with the military banner hanging down the front of the building like in southern command in South City. They went in the front door and Paige just followed them to a room that they entered, which she assumed was a homeroom.

"Class, I hope you all had a good break. Just to remind you, new semester starts today. When I call your name if you could come up and get your schedules please. Miss Catherine Armstrong." The list went through, some names Paige immediately turned to look at, including the 2nd name called; Denny Brosh. After this happening several time, Catherine put her hand on Paige's shoulder and asked with concern,

"Are you alright?" a nod was taken as Alaine went up to get her schedule. Once the whole class had their schedules it was an explosion of noise as friends started comparing schedules.

"Heck yeah! We have all our morning classes together!" Catherine exclaimed loudly and excitedly. She lowered her voice after a glare from the teacher, Lieutenant Sall. She added afterwards, "Then after lunch we all have at least one of us in their classes. Can't wait to go to lunch today though!" and they talked about how the classes would be until the bell rang and the class filed out, the group of four girls going up a flight of stairs and down a hallway.

A bell rang that signaled the start of class and a man of dark skin and hair. He stood at the front of the room and wrote on the board in very neat manuscript "Master Sergeant Sung Turion; Literature" then he turned and addressed the class. "If this is the wrong class leave now." No one moved. "Good, that means you can all read, which is an important component for this class. You will all receive copies of the books we will read. After each section you will have a quiz, discussion or project on it. After each work, there will be a test." He passed out the syllabus. "In there is a list an tentative dates on everything, assignments are as listed unless I state otherwise. Am I understood?" the whole class yelled out "YESSIR!" and he continued. "First we will be reading a few works of Homer. Can anyone tell me what his most famous works are?"

A few hands rose, including the group of girls. He called on a young woman in the back, her dirty blonde hair tied back and honey colored eyes showing behind a pair of frameless glasses. "Sir, _The Iliad_ and _The Odyssey_, Sir."

"Correct. Name."

"Caya Hawkeye, Sir."

"Hawkeye, any relation to 2nd Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye fr-"

"Sir, yes sir! Older cousin sir. Sorry for the interruption, but that is a private matter sir."

"Right. And again you are correct. Anyone know what the books are about?"

This time he called on the brunette from earlier, Denny Brosh, "_Iliad_ is about Helen going to Troy and her husband trying to get her back, based off of the Trojan War. _Odyssey_ follows Odyseus after the Trojan war ended and him trying to get home, SIR!"

"Correct." He passed out copies of the Iliad. "Now, you have the rest of today's class and whatever you don't finish for homework, read the first 10 chapters for tomorrow. Questions?" No one raised their hands. "Notes may be helpful. Get to it!"

Scrambling of students getting books and paper sounded then it was silence as everyone started reading the classic tale. When the bell rang everyone packed up and left, heading to their next class; for the group of four girls they went up to the third floor and went in one of the smaller classrooms in the building, at the bell there was a total of 12 students and the man at the front of the room wore a white lab coat and glasses which hid his pale blue eyes. His graying hair was pulled into a low ponytail and wrinkles and laugh-lines covered his face. "Welcome to the first day of Advanced Biological Studies. Here you will be learning about the basics of the kingdoms and how everything interacts with one another. If you will notice, there are specimens in cupboards and the drawers are labeled: what does this tell you?"

It was Paige that raised her hand, no one else. "It is because this is the lab, as well as the lecture classroom."

"Very good. What is your name?"

"Paige Clabaugh."

"Like Paige said, this will be you lecture class as well as your lab class. Grades will be combined. We will start with plants, after plants we will move onto fungi then animals. After we finish all of that, it will be ecology which should take us to the end of the year. Thursdays will be lab days, occasionally continuing to Fridays if they are long enough. Now we will start with the basic cell types. If you have your textbook, open to page 14." He then started writing on the board, listing out the cell bodies before a man who was dark haired and green eyed asked,

"Sir, what is your name?" the professor chuckled and turned back around.

"I guess I forgot about that, didn't I? sorry class, my name is Dr. James Patton. I get excited about this stuff. Any other questions?" there weren't any. "Ok, as I was saying, in the basic cell, there are the following organelles. The nucleus is the power house, it hold the DNA, the material in which every living thing is made of…" he continued lecturing until the bell rang in which he called out after the students, "Read chapters 2 and 4." As the teenagers dispersed.

They group of girls went to the first floor and just made it to their seats in time as the bell rang and the teacher, a man dressed from the waist down in military attire but only had a black button up shirt for the top. "I am Master Sergeant Reid Martin, I am here to teach you geography. You will learn and be able to draw the whole country from memory for your final, including every detail, town, and parts of the neighboring territories as well. I am a map maker and advisor for the military for what routes to take for campaigns." He turned and pulled down a map of the country.

"I am going to leave it up to you guys about what areas we cover when, there will be a test over every section though. You have to vote though. There are 26 of you here so I should count 26 votes at the end of this. Raise your hand for which section you want to learn. West!" a few hands were raised. "South" a few less hands. "North" only had four hands, one of which was Catherine's. "Central." The teacher asked with a sigh. About half of the remaining hands went up. "East." The remaining hands went up, which included Aurora's, Paige's and Alaine's. "We will start with East then study Central, and revote after that. I will be teaching you not just the geography but also the history of these regions. To the east, past the border, is the Xingese Desert, and beyond that is the Kingdom of Xing. As you all know, desert are dry that experience extremes in temperatures. In the desert there used to be a city, does anyone know what it was called?"

Alaine was called on, "It used to be the city of Xerxes."

"Correct. It is claimed that it was destroyed in a single night, though no one knows if it is true." The lecture continued about the desert until the bell rang in which the group of four girls went to their lockers and dropped off their bags before leaving the school for the café, which Catherine was talking about.

"It is a small place out of the way from the main roads. It is called Little Paradise and it is supposed to have all this great food that isn't too expensive. It should be just around this corner." We turned the corner after walking a few blocks and saw this small café that was painted a light green color, that had chairs and tables outside. The girls went in and looked at the décor which was painted like a jungle and trees and plants everywhere. They sat at a table and looked over the menu. They decided what they wanted and went up to order. They all got a pair of either soup, salad, or sandwiches and were told that their numbers would be called over the intercom, so they sat and waited.

"What do you guys think?" Catherine asked excitedly looking around.

"It is really nice. Let's see how the food tastes." Alaine commented looking around the semi full café. It was about 15 minutes before Aurora's soup and salad was ready. She went up and got it, followed soon after by Alaine's order. Several minutes later Catherine's was ready. They all waited to eat, despite Paige's protests. When Paige was called she went up and wasn't paying attention as she was responding to Catherine's "hurry" she walked into someone's chest.

"I'm so sorry, I should have been watching where I was going," she quickly exclaimed looking at who she hit coming face-to-collarbone with a blue military jacket. She took a step back to see a lightly tanned complexion with royal blue eyes, blonde bangs, and brown hair underneath. The man had a cigarette, unlit, hanging out of his mouth loosely. Paige nearly fainted right then.

"It's ok, no harm done." The man said looking down at her. "By the way, I'm Jean, Jean Havoc." He added holding out his hand. She took it and he brought it up to his lips, kissing the back. "May I have your name?"

"Paige, Paige Clabaugh." She said with a blush across her cheeks.

"Are you alright Paige?" he asked his blue eyes shining.

"Yeah, I am fine." She responded tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Umm, I know this is sudden but would you like to do something this weekend?"

"Um, yeah, I would like that."

"Friday night, around 7?" He asked easily.

"Sounds great."

"I'll pick you up, where do you live?" he asked grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from his jacket. She paused, how dumb would she look if she didn't know her address, luckily her friends were watching and Catherine came to save the day.

"She lives at 3629 Elm Ridge. She just moved in the other day." And Paige shot her a grateful look.

"I know right where that is, and I will see you Friday at 7, dress kinda nice, ok?"

"Yeah, I will. See you then Jean." And he shot her a wink before leaving with a bag of food. Paige went to get her food and walked back to the table with her sandwich and soup. They all started eating before Paige asked, "So do we want to do something after school?"

They all were silent before Aurora spoke up, "We could go annoy my uncle. I heard he has a new subordinate."

"And I could say hi to my brother as well." Alaine added taking a bite of her salad. They all enjoyed their food and headed back to the school 15 minutes before lunch was up. Once back, they grabbed their bags again and Alaine and Catherine went upstairs for their design class while Aurora and Paige went to the back of the building for Alchemy training. At the front of the class stood Basque Grand.

"Welcome students. You are here because you want to learn more about alchemy, know that this is an introductory class and very few of you will be asked to join the Advanced Alchemy class I teach. Here you will learn the basics and for your final will choose a type of alchemy and test on that, which will determine whether or not you will be invited back. I am Colonel Basque Grand, yes I did participate in the Ishvalan Massacre. I will tell you only what the government allows. Today we will go over the basics of alchemy." And that is how their lecture went, by going over the basic rules of alchemy. After that Paige went to the second floor for music, meeting Catherine there while Aurora went to see Alaine for Advanced Math Methods.

"Paige, have you practiced your music at all over break?" Alexis nearly sang as she sat down at a piano in the room.

"Uh, yeah let's go with that." Paige giggled lightly getting out her viola. The teacher came in and handed out sheet music to everyone.

"Class, look through your parts for a few minutes and we will try playing through it. We will take the pieces one at a time. You have about 15 minutes." And she went to her office to grab something before practice. Everyone was silent for a little bit before some people started running through parts of the song. When the teacher came back she held her baton up to get everyone's attention and then everyone got quiet and got in their positions to play. It was less than half way through the song before she was yelling stop and then turned to the woodwinds.

"From measure 97." She gave the count before playing through it. That is how the rest of the class went, with her working on sections.

The last class of weapon training all four had together. They all met up right next to the armory. They walked in and sat on a bench, waiting on the teacher. In came a well built man. He was easily reaching 6'2" with broad shoulders and well muscled arms. He had shaggy light brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a pair of black semi-casual pants and a black workout shirt on under his blue jacket marking him a military man, possibly.

"You will learn to use weapons in hand-to-hand combat and distanced in this class. You will choose one of each to use for the semester." He passed out packets to each bench. "Look through them and write down your three favorite of each. For next class I will assign what you will be training with and who will be training with you. Once you are done, turn in your paper in and you can leave. See you tomorrow." And he sat down in a chair by the desk and waited. There was a shuffling of papers as the students went through and looked at the list of weapons. The girls all left at different times, but waited in the hall till they were all done.

"So, what did you girls choose?" Aurora asked as they walked towards their lockers.

"I chose the pistol and the long rifle." Alaine stated shyly.

"I picked the sniper rifle and a short sword." Catherine said.

"I still don't see why you are in this class Catherine. You are strong enough to defend yourself not to mention your parents and older siblings are ridiculously strong."

"I still would like to learn this type of fighting. What about you Aurora?"

"I chose sniper as well, Riza will teach me well, and then throwing knives which Hughes will teach me no problem. Paige?"

"I chose bow and then multi-daggers." She said quietly to surprised looks.

"Why are you doing such old weapons?" Catherine asked while we were leaving the building and heading towards the military headquarters.

"Well I think it will be fun to be able to use those types of weapons, more skill to use, ya know. No offense to you guys." She added quickly not wanting to insult her friends.

"It's no problem. I think it is cool at least." Alaine said as they turned the block to see the headquarters. They walked up making small talk and were stopped temporarily by a guard until he recognized Aurora and Alaine, then let the four girls in. they went to the second floor of the building and to the third set of double doors on the left. Aurora pulled the doors open and walked in.

"UNCLE ROY!" She called as she ran up to see him.

"Aurora?" He asked before being tackled out of his chair. Meanwhile Alaine went to her older brother and quietly said hi. Catherine and Paige stood by the door and looked around. Catherine was pulled in by Breda and Paige was left standing there, staring in awe for the scene in front of them. It was then that she heard a person behind her so she moved out of the way.

Past her walked the man she met earlier today, Jean. He sat at one of the desks with a pile of papers. Once Roy got his niece off of his person, he stood up and looked down at her and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Besides the fact I want to see my favorite uncle, I want to meet your new subordinate. So do my friends." She added looking back at us.

"Very well. Havoc!"

The bi-haired colored man stood, "SIR!"

"Relax, I want you to meet my lovely niece Aurora. These are her friends, Alaine who is Kain's little sister, Catherine is Armstrong's younger sister, and this is-"

"Paige, how are you?"

"You know her Havoc?" Roy asked amused.

"Yeah, I ran into her getting lunch today."

"Very well." Jean walked over and took her hand and led her to his desk. He sat her upon it and took his own seat. They were talking and joking, her sincerely laughing at his jokes and him not once making a move to look up her skirt or at her breast. It was when Catherine exclaimed about the time that they all left. Jean stood and helped her off his desk and smiled at her. He kissed the back of her hand again and said, "I will see you on Friday, don't forget." She smiled and gave him a wink.

"I won't forget Jean, I am looking forward to it." She whispered in his ear before grabbing her bag off of his desk.

After they left the building, Catherine looked slyly at her redheaded friend. "You are looking forward to your date aren't you?"

"Yeah, he seems like a really great guy. I am excited. Only two days left. Would you guys want to come over Friday after school to help me pick out clothes? My parents and I have plans tomorrow."

"OF COURSE!" they all exclaimed excited. They continued to talk about what would happen Friday while walking to Paige's house, where they dropped her off and continued. Alaine lived with her aunt on the outskirts of town since Kain lived in the dorms. Aurora lived with her parents in a house in the upper district and Catherine was living in her parent's vacationing house, which was still amazing, by herself.

Paige went inside and went up to her room, happy to see Mafdet on her bed. She realized that her parents worked somewhere so she did her homework. Once she was done she read a book that was on her desk, but then realized there was a alchemy book on her shelf so she took that off and started looking through it, stopping where it said "Biological Alchemy" which she was sure was taboo. She decided to read it later as her parents were home. She went down and greeted her parents and asked them about work as they put their stuff away, learning her mother worked in a flower shop and her father was a high level civilian that worked for the military doing chemical research.

"How was your day, classes go well?" Her mother asked while starting dinner. So Paige reiterated her day and then told them about her date Friday.

"Jean Havoc, he is the one with the blonde bangs and brown hair right?" her father looked over to her. Paige nodded worried. "He is a good guy, I think you two would be good together. I approve." Paige sighed and thanked him.

"You're welcome dear, now help your mother and we will talk more later." For dinner they had pasta and salad and enjoyed themselves talking about their plans the next evening, which was going to the Symphony and dinner.

Paige went to bed, thoroughly enjoying her first day in the Fullmetal Alchemist world, and couldn't wait until she met Envy as well. She fell asleep thinking if the dream she had that made her come here would actually happen.

Please Review!

I love them more than Roy likes Fire!


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, so finals are coming up which means probably no updates till summer.

Thank you to my reviewers: DemonOfTheRain666 and neoko-chan. They got a little of a preview for what will EVENTUALLY happen.

Classes the following day were taking forever to pass in Paige's mind, due to the upcoming events of the night. In her science class she was asked to stay back for a little bit, and told her friends to let Master Sergeant Martin know that she would be late.

"Yes Mr. Patton?" she asked nervously.

"You seem to have a good grasp of this material. How would you like to help me out with taking care of the lab during your off periods?"

She was speechless. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, so what's your answer?"

"I would love too!" She was excited.

"Very well, come here during your off period and we will get you set up. Sound good?"

She nodded, shocked, and was about to head out the door. "Do you need a pass?" She laughed nervously and nodded again. He filled out a form and sent her on her way. She walked quickly to geography and knocked on the door to be let in.

"Sorry I'm late Master Sergeant, here is my pass." And she gave it to them and took her seat.

"Now, as I was saying; The religion of Xerxes was based on several deities, and was ruled by one king. They studied alchemy, although it was much more primitive than now modern alchemy. The economy was –" and his lecture continued on about the life of Xerxesian people.

When class was over, they switched out their books and went to the lunchroom and grabbed food. Once at the table, Catherine asked, "So why did Patton keep you late?"

"Oh, nothing big. Just wanted me to help out in the lab." The other girls congratulated her and she quickly ate her lunch before heading up to the lab with Patton.

"Don't worry Aurora; I will be back in time for class." She winked as she ran off, hair flying behind her.

"I think Paige is in for a ride. Hope she is ready for her date though." Catherine said after her friend.

"It is tomorrow, and Uncle Roy didn't say anything bad about him."

"Kain didn't either." Alaine supplied. The three girls were left in their thoughts."

"Dr. Patton?" Paige tentatively asked entering the lab.

"Ah, Paige! Come here! Today I will just show you where everything is." She nodded and he gave her a tour of the lab. She checked the time when she left and jumped.

"I hate to be rude, Dr. Patton, but I really need to go. I have class with Mr. Grand outside."

"You better go then. See you tomorrow." And she jogged down to the courtyard.

Upon arrival, Aurora made the quip, "Cutting it close, aren't we?" Her smirk mirrored her Uncle's at that moment.

Before Paige could make a remark, Basque Grand walked out. "I am going to show you a small demonstration of my power. Then you will go through the alchemy books in groups and decide what type to study."

He walked to the middle of the courtyard and had the students gather around. He had gauntlets on, lacking previously.

Slamming his fists together, a blue light enveloped one hand and it became encased in metal, turning into a gun. He shot a few rounds before it went back to flesh.

Applause were heard and he stiffly bowed. "Now, get in groups of 3 and I will be passing out books." Aurora and Paige were joined by a young man with dusky blonde hair and green eyes. "May I join you two lovely ladies?" He asked in a very eloquent tone.

"Yes, you may. May I inquire as to your name." Aurora spoke, batting her eyelashes.

"I am Cayden Wes."

"Nice to meet you." Both girls supplied as Grand walked by them. He stopped for a minute and looked at Aurora.

"Are you going to take after your Uncle?"

"I may." She replied tersely. He seemed to understand not to piss off a woman and walked away as she turned to the two other people and opened the book.

"Is there any type of alchemy you really want to learn?" Paige asked the other two as they went through the index.

"I would like to learn water alchemy." Cayden said with confidence. They flipped the book to the elemental alchemy and then into the water section. Aurora read the passage outloud.

" 'Water alchemy includes the changing of the distance and speed of water molecules to manipulate the water around ones' self.' Sound like fun to you?" She smiled at him.

"I am good at Chemistry, it will be fun." He then copied down the circles to practice drawing.

"What about you Paige?" Aurora sighed.

"I was thinking bio-alchemy. Not human transmutation." She quickly added and they flipped to the page of biology-based alchemy. She read through the section and copied down the circles. Then it was Aurora's turn, she decided to do air-based alchemy. The rest of the day passed and Paige went straight home to change for the Symphony.

They went to dinner and the Symphony, enjoying the performances. Getting back near midnight, Paige went straight to bed.

Waking the next day Paige was giddy about her date that evening. At breakfast her mother asked, "Are you excited for your date tonight?"

Her father lowered the paper he was reading and paid attention. "Yes, I am. Catherine, Aurora, and Alaine are coming over after school to help me decide what to wear."

This is when her father interjected. "Where are you going?"

"Not sure, he said to dress kinda nice." She responded then grabbed her bag and went to school. Classes were a blur and every minute one of her friends was asking about the date, mostly Catherine.

The final bell rang and the group of girls went to their lockers to grab their books for the weekend's homework. Once at Paige's house, the three visitors left their bags at the door while following their friend and her cat up the stairs. The three friends went to the closet and started pulling out clothes. It was complete chaos until Paige said stop.

"Catherine, pick out the shoes, Aurora, the skirt and Alaine, you can choose the top." And she collapsed on the bed again, looking at the shelf and what lay hidden behind it.

There was talking and comparing going on before Paige was pulled off her bed. Alaine gave her a light green blouse; Aurora a knee-length black slightly flowing skirt, and Alaine a pair of white heels.

"Wow guys, this is great! Thank you!" And she hugged her three friends.

"No problem, have fun on your date." And they left, leaving her two hours before her date. She showered and dried her hair, brushing it out completely. Applying light makeup she then dressed and looked in her mirror.

"You know babe, I am really excited for this date." Her cat just meowed at her. That is when she heard the doorbell ring.

"He is here." She waited until she was called down, and then slowly descended the staircase, seeing Jean dressed in black slacks, a white shirt with a green vest, talking to her dad. When he saw her, his mouth opened.

When she reached him, he took her hand gently and said, "You look beautiful." She blushed and thanked him.

"I want her back by 11, ok Jean?" Her dad said before they left. He walked her to a car and opened the door to let her in before going on his side. He drove in silence until they got to a restaurant.

"Jean, this is where you are taking me on a first date?"

"Yeah, I want it to be special." He blushed lightly and got out to open the door for her. He offered his arm and she took it, entering the restaurant.

"Havoc for two," he told the waiter upon entering the 4-star restaurant. They sat down and ordered drinks, her a water and him a beer.

"You're 21?" she asked once the waiter left.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't really say that. Guessing you're not since your still in school."

"No, I'm not." And they both looked over the menu.

"I want you to know that you can get anything you want." He smiled at her and went back to look at the menu. When the waiter came back, he set down the drinks and asked for their orders.

"Ladies first," Jean gestured.

"Thank you. I will have the roast chicken breast and vegetables please." She folded her menu and gave it to the waiter.

"Steak and potatoes, please," Jean ordered and gave back his menu. They made small talk until their food came. Eating while talking about family and for her, school and him work.

It was about an hour later and they left, Jean driving to a nearby park. They got out and he took her hand and walked around.

They stopped at a bench and talked about anything that came across their minds.

"So, why did you join the military Jean?"

"I wanted to get away from home. I love my parents, but my mom is a little overbearing at times. They run a small shop out east. I don't have any sisters or brothers and I only had abasic education. I don't regret my decision though." He ended with a passionate decision, squeezing her hand tighter. He noticed this and loosened his grip. "Why are you taking alchemy?"

"I find it interesting, once I am out of school, I am going to take the state alchemy exam."

"I can't wait to see you do that." He smiled and looked at her.

"Thank you Jean. Can we walk around some more? I'm kind of cold."

"Of course." And he stood up and helped her up, wrapping his arm around her waist and she leaned into his side. Still talking, they went up to the pond and walked around the perimeter.

"The ducks look so peaceful out there." Paige said happily.

"Yeah, they do. See that one, off on its own though?" and Jean pointed out one that was very dark with a green sheen of its feathers.

"Poor guy." Paige said with empathy.

"At times that reminds me of me. I have great friends, don't get me wrong, but sometimes they don't understand all of me." And he leaned his head on her shoulder. After just watching the ducks for a while, Jean picked up his head and quietly said, "Paige, I think tonight is going really well, and I was wondering if I could kiss you."

The darkness hid her blush, "Yes."

He turned to her and cupped her cheek, and leaned down gently pressing his lips to hers. He pulled away after a few seconds and pressed his forehead to hers. Staying like that for a while until he looked at his watch.

"I guess I should be getting you back." And he offered his arm again, and back to his car, driving home in a comfortable silence. When he arrived back at her house, he again opened the door and led her to the door.

"Would you like to go out again?" He asked her, before she opened the door.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"How about lunch on Sunday?" He was nervous.

"Sounds great, I will see you then." And he leaned down and pecked her cheek before she opened the door. His drive back to his apartment he was giddy, and could barely believe his luck. He did not expect to be ambushed upon entering his apartment by his friends though.

"HOW'D IT GO?" the voices of Breda, Kain, and Falman yelled.

Havoc wasn't fazed at all, "It went well, I have another date with her in fact."

That got them all stunned into silence. He went to his room and stripped to his boxers and went to bed.

At Paige's, her mother asked, "Did you have fun tonight dear?"

"Yes I did, he was a perfect gentleman. We went to Dari's then to the park."

"Dari's? that is pretty nice for a first date."

"I know, I was shocked too. He wants to get lunch on Sunday."

"That is great, now why don't you get off to bed?"

She nodded and went up to her room and into bed, with a smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ugh." A woman said as a weight landed on her stomach. Upon looking down, her cat was sitting on her stomach, staring at her with his questioning green eyes. "Couldn't let me sleep in? I was out late last night?" he flicked his tail as he jumped off the bed, waiting by the closed door. With a heavy sigh she got out of the warm bed and opened the door for the demanding pet. After a look at the clock and decided to go ahead down and join the rest of her family

"Morning Sleeping Beauty, ready for breakfast?" My mother asked as she walked down the steps.

"Yes please Mom." Was the response while brushing hair away from her face as the cat went to his food dish. He started eating as her mother put a couple pieces of toast and jam in front of the teenager.

"So, tell me about last night." She asks sitting beside her with a glass of water.

After finishing her bite and swallowed before answering. "He drove us to dinner, after we went to the park where we walked around for a bit before he brought me back."

"Did he kiss you?"

"He asked, I told him no." Was the easy lie told since she didn't need to know.

It was almost as she was disheartened, "Why not!"

"First date Mother!"

"So? First date with your father we didn't even-"

"Acacia! Our daughter doesn't need to know about that. Leave her alone, if she wishes to tell you, she will."

"Thank you Dad!" Was the almost over grateful response, not wanting to know what she was going to say.

"No problem, now what are you going to do today?"

"I was going to go for a jog and then do my homework. Jean asked me to go have lunch with him tomorrow."

"Ok, don't take too long jogging, where are you going?"

"Oh, probably up to the park and around the pond. Not too long."

"Well, why don't you go get ready before it gets too late dear?" A nod to her mother as the teenager ascended the staircase. Looking around the closet, she pulled out a tank top and a pair of shorts. Hair in a ponytail and sneakers were the last of the attire as she descended the steps.

"Bye! Be back later!" Was called, closing the door behind me. Starting off at a steady pace to the park a little less than a mile away from her house. Jogging around the pond and stopping at a nice sized tree, she observed more waterfowl than last night, but the one from last night seemed to be in the same place, still away from the others. It wasn't dead, but it didn't look injured either. Upon turning away, she turned back until it looked up and it looked at her, she noticed its eyes were purple. It started coming towards her and she quickly stepped back to the path. It started swimming around a bit before it took off to the sky. Watching the awkward duck for a little bit before she continued the jog back to the beautiful house. Over all the woman was gone about an hour. A shower was followed by homework of reading and maps before being called down for lunch.

"Honey, do you know where he is planning on taking you for lunch tomorrow?" The mother asks plating a sandwich for her

"No, he didn't say anything."

"Just make sure you get your homework done." She was scolded in a teasing manner.

"Working on it now." She said in between bites. The family ate in silence and they all took their plates up before heading upstairs to study more. She eagerly read the assignment Gran gave the class about how they think alchemy was created. After she started drawing the circles that she chose about biological alchemy. By the midterm, the expectations was be able to draw the chosen circles by memory to scale or else the students failed the class. Paige spent hours working on all the little details and the writing, ignoring the cramps in her hand and wrist. When she held up the finished work, a smile graced her features. It may have taken over two hours, but it was almost an exact replica except there was eraser smudges in some of the worded areas.

She pulled out one of the books that didn't disappear in the time lapse and sat down on her window ledge, back against the wall. The sun streaming in allotted enough light to read and the view was beautiful, the tree waving with the wind and green grass. The sleep took her quickly and quietly, so much so she didn't even notice falling asleep until the knock at her door disturbed her and her father's voice called through.

"Paige, dear, it is time for dinner, come down."

Pulling herself off the sill, she put a bookmark in the novel before going downstairs. "Sorry, fell asleep.:" she told them as she ruffled her hair sitting in her usual spot.

"It is ok, your friends are coming over after dinner. Want to hear about last night." Was told to her, while being served stew with salad and bread. A deep sigh was heard before a bite of salad, knowing it would happen. knowing that eating slowly wouldn't work, she tried to make it pass while talking with her family about when breakfast would be had the following day, since when Jean would show is unknown. The women helped with dishes while the lone male set up the back yard. He was having some coworkers come over for drinks around a fire in our backyard. Their wives and girlfriends came for coffee and cookies with his wife.

It wasn't much after the adult's parents company arrived that the child's did. She let them all in and led them to the bedroom. The visitors sat on her bed as the host pulled a chair from the nearby desk. "You know, I thought I could wait until Monday in school for this."

"You went out with a guy that is over five years older than you. You expect us to wait?" Katherine squealed.

Alaine added, "Kain said Jean didn't say much of anything last night when he got back."

Paige got slightly defensive. "You guys were planning on doing this all day?"

"You would do the same." Aurora said with little emotion, except the smirk playing on her lips. With defeat playing in her eyes, Paige told them the details. It was obvious that she didn't want to. She left out the kiss, even though she was teased about it. Several more hours of gossip before they were sent out. No one would know about tomorrow.

It was a slow process getting ready for bed, especially with the thoughts that were going in her mind. What did Jean expect from the younger woman?_ I guess that was something to bring up at some point. If he wanted too much, then she couldn't do it. She was waiting until there was a ring on her finger before giving away too much to a man. _And with those troubling thoughts, the student fell into a fitful sleep.


End file.
